100 Olympic Tidbits: Steffi Graf's Golden Slam

Steffi Graf of Germany achieved tennis immortality in 1988 when, in addition to winning all four of professional tennis’ Grand Slam titles, she also won the women’s tennis gold medal in the Seoul Olympics. The achievement, dubbed the Golden Slam, has never been equaled by any other player, male or female. Graf’s husband, American Andre Agassi, won all four men’s Slams and also won a gold medal in Atlanta, while Spain’s Rafael Nadal has also won the four Slams in addition to his gold medal in Beijing, but both players won their titles in different years.

Winning a true, or calendar year, Golden Slam, as Graf did, is especially difficult since the Olympics happen only once every four years. Four years earlier, in Los Angeles, Graf won the tennis tournament, although it was just a demonstration sport. She came to Seoul less than a week after winning the US Open to complete her calendar year Grand Slam, and was in top form, riding a 35-match winning streak. She easily beat Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina in the finals, 6-3 6-3, to complete her historic feat.

Graf competed again in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics hoping to defend her title, but she lost to the United States' Jennifer Capriati in the final and had to settle for the silver. (Source: Olympic.org)

Editor's Note: To celebrate the 100-day
countdown to the London Games, we will be publishing 100 tidbits about
the Olympics. Come back to Yahoo! PH Sports, as we publish a new tidbit
every day.

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